Due to the lack of research into characterizing the genetics of TCC in fishing cats, a candidate gene strategy was implemented by searching for inherited LOF or missense variants in the fishing cat gene orthologs of first the ten human bladder cancer risk genes that included BRCA1, BRCA2, CHEK2, ATM, MSH2, MUTYH, MITF, MLH1, FH, and FANCC10 then a larger set 152 cancer risk gene set15. Here, MITF is linked to urinary bladder carcinoma.